Detergents: Deal on revised rules to improve environmental and health protection 

On Tuesday, negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement on the Commission proposal to update the EU framework on detergents and surfactants, which does not yet take into account new market developments such as detergents with living microorganisms as active ingredients, and refill sales.

Clearer information, more readily available to consumers

Consumers will benefit from clearer, more readable, and easily understandable labels, highlighting the most important information directly on the product. Parliament made sure that special attention will be given to the needs of vulnerable groups. It also secured full ingredient transparency, in particular regarding allergenic fragrances in physical form. Digital labels will provide additional details when needed and a new digital product passport will ensure the accuracy, reliability, and accessibility of product data while maintaining compliance with safety standards.

Detergents sold in a refill format will have to display the same physical labelling as standard detergents, on a label attached to the refill packaging rather than digital-only labels as proposed by the Commission.

To address the issue of overuse, the Commission will examine the need to introduce additional rules on labelling of consumer laundry detergents sold in bottles with lids, including through clearer instructions and better use of lids and measuring cups.

Safety and animal testing

The Commission must assess the risks to human health and the environment posed by the most harmful substances, and consider their phase-out. To do more to combat detergent-related accidents, which often involve children, poison centres will have access to all relevant information through a unified EU-wide platform. In addition, industrial detergents must now carry a clear warning label stating that they are intended for professional use only and not for sale to consumers.

To manage potential risks associated with new detergent products based on microorganisms, the Commission will develop a dedicated risk assessment methodology. This will ensure the safety of such products for human health and the environment. The assessment will consider risks such as skin and respiratory sensitisation, as well as ingestion risks for products used on surfaces in contact with food.

At Parliament’s request, a new article introduces a ban on animal testing, reflecting the demand of nearly 1.5 million European citizens who signed the European Citizens’ Initiative to end animal testing in cosmetics.

Improved biodegradability of products and reduced phosphorus content

After a transition period, organic ingredients of detergents other than surfactants that exceed 10% of the product content will need to meet biodegradability criteria with a possibility to lower this threshold following an assessment by the Commission. This will reduce long-term environmental and health risks.

To tackle plastic pollution more effectively, the polymeric films surrounding around 70% of detergent tablets and capsules (e.g. for laundry or dishwashing) will need to be biodegradable within six years.

With a view to reduce the existing limit values for phosphorus, the Commission must analyse potential impacts within two years.

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After the agreement was reached, rapporteur Majdouline Sbai (Greens, FR) said: “This revision was absolutely necessary to improve the way we inform consumers, protect workers, and reduce the harmful impacts on our health and ecosystems.

I would have liked an even more ambitious agreement, but despite relentless pressure from lobbyists during the negotiations, we fought hard to ensure major improvements, notably: a ban on animal testing, new criteria for biodegradability, stronger accountability for non-EU producers and clearer user information.”

Next steps

The vote on the informal agreement between the co-legislators must now be endorsed by both Parliament and Council. It will enter into force 20 days after it has been published in the EU Official Journal and apply 42 months later.

Background

Detergents help improve health and hygiene but they are also chemicals that can pose risks to human health and the environment. The rules that detergents need to comply with are in the 2004 Detergents Regulation. According to the Commission, the total market value of the European detergents industry in 2020 was €41.2 billion and accounted for approximately 4.2% of the production value of the total chemicals sector in 2018. Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Poland account for 85% of European production.